Three general types of farmhouse beers are made near the border between Belgium and France. But like most beers from this part of Europe, they defy categorization as styles—experimentation and inventiveness are required to make your own great creation.

More malt! More hops! More attitude! If one beer defines the new American mentality toward brewing, it is the royal barley wine. Here a veteran of many batches both homebrewed and commercial, lays out the landscape of this imperial brew.

Dropping bright: the physics of yeast and haze removal.

Getting from grain to gravity in the fermenter takes several steps procedurally and computationally. Here we walk you through the mechanics of figuring out just how much extract a specific grain bill can produce in your brewing system.

In the nine years since Zymurgy last reviewed brewing software, the world has changed – a lot! Our veteran software tester and homebrewer runs the current offerings through their paces to help you choose a package that’s right for you.

The youngest drinkers at this year’s Great American Beer Festival were born the same year as the event. And as consumers celebrated another year of great beer, the festival itself is still evolving. Check our story to see what’s new and for a complete listing of this year’s winners.

Okay, so this issue of about Brewing by the Numbers. But that doesn’t mean that you have to be tethered to your computer to make great beer. Veteran brewers know how to knock out a great batch of homebrew quick and easy without having to figure everything to the third decimal place.

Vote for your favorites. Vote for the all-time greats. And then watch these pages for the results – and recipes for cloning the greats.